2m/70cm portable setup

[Jmerk]

I'm looking to set up my first ham radio 'station'. I've determined that I would get the most use out of a radio setup that I can take with me, but not limited to a vehicle. HF is out of my price range right now, so I've been looking at the Yaesu FT-8800R. I would like to know what I would need to use this radio in portable situations- things like what kind of power source to look for, antenna recommendations, and any other hardware I would need.
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[xtatik]

These are popular for a simple FM portable antenna.
http://www.elkantennas.com/2m4405element.htm

Or, one of these in a breakdown version. https://www.jamespole.com/Product_Catalog.html They are available through HRO.

Mount either one on a simple painters pole with a 25' section of RG8x and you're done.
Another place for a greater selection of telescoping fiberglass masts is
Max-Gain Systems. Most will need to be guyed in their fully extended sizes, but can be shortened for a self supporting situation. I use them for hanging HF dipoles and they work very well.

 

[ScoutII]

The radio runs on nominal 12 volts.
For a mobile antenna, I just have a simple NMO mounted Comet antenna.
It works ok, but the NMO mount does not hold up well when driving through brush or low limbs.

I really like that radio FWIW:sombrero:

Edit: you can even use it on a painter pole as mention by Randy. But not as effective and the ones he listed.
I find I can talk all over the place, as there are some very nice repeaters near by. You would need to see whats in your area.

 

[xtatik]

Edit: you can even use it on a painter pole as mention by Randy. But not as effective and the ones he listed.
I find I can talk all over the place, as there are some very nice repeaters near by. You would need to see whats in your area.

Using a mobile antenna in this way will be ineffective unless it's 5/8 wave or longer. Most 1/4 and 1/2 wave antennas will require a counterpoise.

 

[ScoutII]

I'm bad, I miss read his post. He was looking for a mobile antenna to use away from the car/truck. i.e the antenna's xtatik posted. I guess I would have tho Like walking up a mountain and trying to see how far you can go.

Yes on the 5/8 wave. It does make a big difference. I have an adapter on my HT to connect a 5/8 mag mount antenna. Just going from 1/4 wave to 5/8 wave makes a Huge difference. The rig mounted in the truck has a 5/8 wave. My home rig is just me in the truck:costumed-smiley-007

As for power, now that I see your carrying your FT8800 would be a car battery. :Wow1: I suspect you could get by with a 12v nicad battery from a drill or other power tool, but if your running 50 watts that would not last very long. I need to get out on Field day with one of the Antennas xtatik posted as my 5/8 wave is ok, but did not reach anybody on Simple last June. Now I only tried a couple of the popular freq and it was just for a short time as we were on the move most of the day. But I was close to 9,000 feet up

 

[rusty_tlc]

This is the set up I used with my FT-2800 while testing a homebrew antenna. On the right are two 12V gel cell batteries out of an old UPS. They are hooked in parallel. In the center is the radio, this unit has the same basic power requirements as the FT-8800. On the left is my SWR meter hooked in line with the antenna I was testing, you wouldn't need that after the antenna was trimmed. For your application I would consider a homebrew 1/4 wave with three or more ground radials mounted at the base and angled down about 45°. You can find plans on the internet for this antenna pretty easy and it only cost a few dollars to build.

All of this stuff could be built into an ammo can, something slightly bigger than the 50Cal int the picture.


One question for you, why not hard mount the FT-8800 in your truck and get a hand held. One of the best features of the FT-8800 is it's cross band repeat capability. I've used the feature* and it's very cool, I can go hiking around and use my truck radio as a repeater.



*I have the FT-8900 same radio as the FT-8800 with more bands.

 

[rusty_tlc]

2M 1/4 wave antenna instructions one of many for the same basic antenna. You could build a second one for 70 cm.


Or build an Arrow dual band